Where Did Cain and Seth Source their Wives?

WHERE DID CAIN AND SETH OBTAIN THEIR WIVES?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

INTRODUCTION

This question has puzzled Bible readers, Christians and skeptics alike. Some have regrettably arrived at the conclusion that the creation story is a myth. Nothing can be further from the truth!

I will approach this question by first examining the historical and cultural dynamics of the Jewish community. I will then propose a theory which I consider as resonating with the question in the context of biblical truth.

COUSIN MARRIAGES

Middle Eastern cultures are generally known for cousin marriages. Jacob married Leah and Rachel who were both his maternal cousins and this was culturally accepted then.

Please note also that the biblical reason for these marriages had partly to do with the preservation of the spiritual heritage of Abraham's lineage in the face of rampant idolatry among the heathen communities around them.

In Genesis 24 we see Abraham demanding under oath that his servant should never fetch a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanite neighbors.

Notice the specific instructions recorded in Genesis 24:4 that the servant should go to Abraham's kindred to fetch a wife. That's perfectly how Rebecca was identified.

The same practice was replicated in the case of Jacob marrying his two cousins Leah and Rachel who were daughters of Laban his uncle.

Cousin marriages are still common with many Middle Eastern societies today such as among the Arabs and Cushites communities.

SOURCES OF WIVES FOR CAIN AND SETH

Now to address the issue of the sources of the wives of Seth and Cain.

Even though the Bible does not expressly reveal to us where the wives of these two sons of Adam came from, we can draw a theological hypothesis which agrees with the truth revealed in the Bible.

First we need to appreciate that God created Adam and Eve in utmost purity and perfection even though they had a choice for obedience to God.

My view is that the two had perfect genes before their Fall and so did their children. This explains why they each lived for nearly a millennium.

Let's also set the record straight on the theology of creation. The creation story is certainly not a myth as some suppose. We are to accept the word of God in its absolute truth and purity. To approach Scripture with a conflicting mindset is dangerous and results in propagation of  heresy.

God created only two first parents for all humanity and no other account of creation is recorded in the Bible. It is unbiblical and heretical to argue that there was a separate society of human civilization that God had created before Adam and Eve. That argument is a New Age fallacy that must be rejected!

When God commanded Adam and Eve to multiple and subdue the earth, His command was specific and exclusive to the two and to none other.

The million question now begs: where did Seth and Cain get their wives?

This question is the subject of wide speculation today because people approach it with the mindset that it was sinful to marry a sister, cousin or niece!  They quickly refer to the law of Moses as a defense.

We need to appreciate once again that God created man in perfect purity both spiritually, physically, psychologically and genetically.

My view is that Cain and Seth lived long enough to see their sisters and brothers grow in number and to several generations of their offspring.

Genesis 5:3-5 says "And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died."

It is therefore possible, and I believe this is the natural inference from the Bible, that Cain and Seth married their sisters and through them God multiplied the human race.

However, as humanity multiplied, we notice from the teaching of the Bible that their depravity increased as succeeding generations drew further and further away from God and did evil exceedingly.

Do you realize that the sons of Nimrod who built the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 were part of the growing rebellion against God?

This is probably why human longevity was finally reduced to a maximum of 120 years!

Notice the lament by God in Genesis 6:1-7 regarding the growing wickedness and rebellion against God.

Only Noah found favor in the sight of God for he was righteous and obedient to God. The entire generation of Cain's offspring was wiped out  during the flood of Noah, leaving only Noah, a descendant of Seth, and his immediate family to proceed with human civilization.

Again, just as the case was with Genesis 3-5, we can infer that Noah's grandchildren must have married their cousins in order to procreate and hence they were the progenitors of the human races we have today.

Sibling or cousin marriage was permissible with God under the circumstances at the time. However as human societies grew,  this type of marriage was prohibited under Moses.

There is no moral justification today for cousin marriages other than for cultural reasons among those who practice it.

Again, it is genetically proven that such unions result in deformed offspring because of genetic mutations.



© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2019